Linzer Torte: delicious, beautiful, comforting, ridiculously expensive…
If you’ve got a couple of hours to spare, you can easily take away the “ridiculously expensive” bit by whipping up this Austrian torte yourself. It does take a fair amount of time and some fiddling, but this dessert is well worth the effort. Plus, with all the almonds and raspberries it’s the “healthy” option – just make sure to overlook the butter and sugar…

This is Stephanie Jaworski’s recipe from thejoyofbaking.com that I have slightly adapted:
You’ll need:
1 ½ cups unblanched almonds (smaller pieces, such as sliced, work best)
2 ½ cups unsweetened frozen raspberries
¼ cup sugar
Lemon juice
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
13 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
The first step is toasting 1 ½ cups of unblanched almonds. With the almonds spread out on a baking sheet, place in the oven under a low broil; stir/toss the almonds every few minutes until they’ve turned a light golden brown.
While the almonds are cooling, bring the raspberries and ¼ cup of sugar to a boil over medium heat in a small saucepan. After it’s reached a boil, reduce the heat and simmer. Stir occasionally, making sure the mixture is not burning. Simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in a squeeze or two of lemon juice, and let cool.<
Preheat the oven to 350°F. To make the dough, pour the cooled almonds and ½ cup of flour into a food processor and blitz. Add the remaining flour and sugar, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and baking power and blend. Cut the cold butter into pieces and process with the dry ingredients until well mixed. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and pulse until the dough comes together. Separate the dough into two pieces, one a little bigger than the other. Wrap the small piece of dough in cling wrap, flatten into a thick disc, and place in the freezer.
Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform or tart pan. Press the larger piece of dough into the buttered pan; the edges/sides of the dough need to be thicker/taller than the inside and middle. After pressing the dough into place, spread the cooled raspberry mixture across the dough, keeping the outer, taller ring of dough raspberry-free.
Take the smaller piece of dough out of the freezer and, on a floured surfaced (with a sprinkle of flour over the dough, too), roll out – a rectangular shape works particularly well. Cut 10 strips out of this dough and lay in a lattice over the torte. If you end up with extra dough (which I always do), roll out again and use cookie cutters to shape cookies. Place on a buttered cookie sheet. If you’re feeling Valentine’s-y and/or kitschy throw a cookie or two on top of the torte for a little themed decoration.
Bake the torte for 30 to 35 minutes and the cookies for about 15 minutes, until the dough has turned golden brown.
The torte is best after it has completely cooled and is delicious plain or accompanied with whipped cream. The cookies are perfect with a cup of coffee or with some fruit preserves sandwiched between them. Enjoy!